Paying for His Mistake
by miserychickfic
Summary: As Seth waits for the arrival of his new baby, he meets a famliiar stranger. I don't know where I'm goin with this...
1. Chapter 1

Paying for his Mistake  
  
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4 Hours.  
  
It's only been 4 hours??  
  
It was about the 100th time he'd glanced at that clock since he'd gotten to the hospital. His mind was racing.   
  
Would if something's wrong.  
  
Is she okay?   
  
Are they both okay?   
  
Should I be in there?  
  
He was frantic with worry. He had just been in there, but even after a moment's absence, he felt something could happen…  
  
God, is it going to feel like this all the time?  
  
He glanced up at the wall again. Barely a minute had gone by.  
  
With a heavy sigh he retreated from the waiting room. It was too…bright. Not to mention that hospitals always freaked him out. How they could be impeccably clean and yet totally unsanitary really irked him in a way he couldn't really describe…  
  
He quickly made his way out the double glass doors and fumbled through his jacket pockets as he stepped out into the twilight. Pulling out a carton of cigarettes, he hurriedly stuck one in his mouth and lit it. He took a long drag before letting out a contented sigh.  
  
Whoever invented these things had to be a genius, he thought to himself. It was times like these that he was actually glad he'd picked up the disgusting habit from Ryan.   
  
Although Summer was definitely not a fan.  
  
"Hey!" He turned his head back and noticed someone leaning against the opposite side of the wall in the shadows.  
  
"Can I bum a smoke?"  
  
With a slight nod, Seth made his way over to the stranger and offered the carton.   
  
"Thanks," the guy said slowly, taking two and sticking one behind his ear. He slid the other one in his mouth as he pulled out his own lighter. "What're you here for?"  
  
Seth looked at the guy curiously. He could barely see his face because his hat was pulled so far down.   
  
"Uh, my wife…she's pregnant."   
  
He heard snickering from beneath the oversized hat. "First time father?" He watched Seth nod and continued to cackle underneath his breath.   
  
Seth went back to the edge of the sidewalk and put the cigarette to his lips. He wasn't really in the mood to talk…especially not with a complete stranger at 3am.   
  
"Boy or girl?" the stranger asked suddenly. Seth looked back and shrugged slightly.   
  
"Uh, Boy."   
  
"Aw, that's too bad," he lamented. "Personally, I think little girls are better…a little girl would be better helping you than a boy would…" He stared at the ground quietly as he said this and Seth eyed him curiously, wondering why the birth of his son would even be sympathized.   
  
"A little girl would be better helping with what?"  
  
"Dealing with the pain," he replied gravely. Seth didn't like his tone.   
  
"That's why I say it's too bad," he repeated. Eying the sad expression on his face, Seth wondered what was wrong with this guy. Something was clearly wrong with him.  
  
"What…pain?"   
  
"It's everywhere." He said suddenly, giving him the notion that this was his reply. It didn't make much sense to Seth.   
  
It was quiet for a moment or two as Seth threw his cigarette to the ground and stepped on it. It was about time he got back inside…  
  
"You got a name picked out?"   
  
Great, we're still talking.  
  
"We liked Dominic," he replied, hoping that would be the end of this idle chitchat.  
  
"Dominic Cohen," the guy stated loudly. "It's got a certain ring to it, I guess…"   
  
Seth shrugged as he walked over to the doors and pulled on the handle. It took him a moment for the words to sink in.  
  
"Wait," he stopped. "How do you know my last name?"   
  
Turning abruptly, he looked back towards the wall, but the stranger was gone.  
  
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Seth gently knocked on the door and slowly twisted the knob. Stepping inside he gazed at his wife. She was fast asleep. Smiling, he made his way to her side and gently stroked her sweat soaked hair.   
  
"Hey," he whispered. She slowly opened her eyes. Peering up at him, she returned his smile.   
  
"Hey you." He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss to her lips before pulling away to look at her again. How after 5 hours of labor she still managed to look gorgeous, he didn't know. Then again, he always thought she was beautiful.   
  
"You smell like smoke," she complained wrinkling her nose. Sighing, Seth got up and headed for the sink to wash his hands.   
  
"I know, I was nervous." She watched him scrub vigorously at himself while she let out an exhausted groan.   
  
"I really wish you'd quit." He grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser and returned to her side.   
  
"I'll try," he promised. Looking around the room, he asked with an uncontained excitement, "So…where is he?"   
  
"I don't know. I fell asleep…" she grabbed his hand as she turned on her side. "He looks like you."   
  
He smiled. Just then a nurse came in with a bundle in her arms.   
  
"The father," she said motioning towards Seth. "Here he is. Meet your son."   
  
Seth carefully took the baby into his arms and stared at the tiny person looking up at him.   
  
"Wow," was all he could manage. He really did look like Seth. He had an unusual amount of hair and Seth could see little ringlets at the ends.   
  
Summer watched them happily as Seth continued to marvel at their son.  
  
"Is he...this is mine," he realized walking over to Summer's side and sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. Pulling herself up, she smiled as she leaned her chin on Seth's shoulder.   
  
"Yes he is."   
  
His eyes were barely open as the two proud parents continued to stare in awe at their creation.  
  
"He's ours," Seth whispered. She grinned.   
  
"I love you," he said to the tiny person fast asleep in his arms. "Yes I do." Turning to face a smiling Summer, he repeated. "And I love you." He kissed her, and after pulling away, immediately had the urge t kiss her again. So he did.  
  
He felt totally giddy.  
  
Summer wrapped an arm around his other shoulder and whispered into the back of his neck.   
  
"You're gonna be such a good dad…"   
  
Seth looked from Summer to the child in his arms and couldn't have felt happier. There were some moments in life where time seems to just stop…and it's only you in the moment, right then and there. That's something you remember all your life.   
  
He knew he wouldn't forget this. He couldn't.  
  
And he was right…  
  
He'd never forget..  
  
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Seth ran down the corridor practically skipping. He didn't want to go home. He had stayed as long as he could with Summer and Dominic, but the nurse had to shoo him out when visiting hours were over.  
  
He made his way out the door, uttering friendly greetings at every stranger who happened to pass as he headed for his car. He looked up towards the room his wife had been in and saw her standing in the window with their child in her arms. Smiling, he gave an exaggerated wave before opening his car door and getting inside.  
  
He was way too excited to drive. He sat there for a moment smiling like an idiot, before finally sticking the keys into the ignition and pulling out of the parking lot.  
  
He was even too excited to notice a pair of eyes watching his every move. They followed him as he flipped his turn signal on and waited for traffic to pass.   
  
They watched him until he was almost out of sight.  
  
Then they looked up at the same window Seth looked at earlier, their lips curving into a sinister smile. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
Seth waltzed through the double glass doors, flowers in hand and a spring in his step. He'd been feeling all light and fluffy for the past 6 hours eagerly awaiting for the sun to come up so he could see his wife and take home his son.  
  
He shuffled past a man pushing a woman in a wheelchair, nodding his head in a greeting and practically skipping past the front desk.  
  
"Excuse me, sir?"  
  
Seth turned around to see the receptionist beckoning him back to the desk.   
  
"Do you have an appointment with us?"  
  
"Oh, yeah, sorry," he said spinning around and retracing his footsteps. "Seth Cohen, I'm here to see my wife, she's on the 3rd floor."  
  
"Let me check, one moment please." Leaning against the desk, he listened to the clicking of her nails against the keyboard and took in his surroundings. Doctors and nurses were bustling through the white halls as patients sat quietly in the waiting area, scanning magazines and staring mindlessly around them. His eye caught a clearly shaken man who kept glancing at the clock on the wall. His knuckles had become white from clutching the tiny pink teddy bear in his hand.   
  
Seth smiled unintentionally as he glanced down at his own palm holding an identical teddy bear. The only difference was that his bear was blue. This man had obviously been to the corner store beside the hospital.   
  
"Mr. Cohen?"  
  
Seth turned abruptly to the woman, who was now smiling kindly at him.   
  
"Go right up."  
  
"Thanks," he said with a smile, before turning on his heel and gliding down the hallway towards the elevator.   
  
A group of EMTs shoved past him towards the stairs, and he had to catch his balance on the guard rail against the wall.   
  
"Damn," he muttered as he bent down to pick up the bouquet of lillies that had fallen from his hand. The elevator door flew open and he caught a glimpse of more hospital workers rushing after the EMTs as the doors closed shut.  
  
He whistled and tapped the number 3 button. Settling back, he glanced over at the woman beside him.   
  
"Hi," he said. She barely glanced up.  
  
He was a little antsy, unconciously swaying back and forth as he glanced back at the woman.  
  
"For my son." He held up the teddy bear in unnecessary explanation and grinned. The woman raised her eyebrows and began tapping her foot as they reached the 3rd floor.   
  
"I gotta go," he said turning back as he stepped out of the elevator. "Gotta see my wife....and my kid."   
  
Her unpleasant face disappeared behind the elevator doors, and with a shrug, he continued to whistle as he strolled down the hall. His tune slowly dwindled as he heard a commotion coming from the open door at the end of the cooridor. The same door he'd left his wife and child in only hours earlier. The gifts fell from his hands as he dashed towards the entrance.  
  
The next few moments seem to happen in a blur.  
  
All he could really recall was the sound of medical jargon as he first caught sight of his wife, the technicians now carrying her onto a stretcher. He caught glimpses of her as the doctors fussed around her. A dark red stain covered the right side of her face and blood was encrusted into her dark hair. Her hand fell limp as they placed her onto the stretcher.  
  
Mouth gaping, Seth continued to stare in horror.  
  
"We need to get her into surgery now! Wha--Get him out of here!"  
  
Before he knew it Seth felt a pair of arms lace through his in an attempt to pull him out of the room.   
  
"Wait! That's my wife!" he yelled frantically struggling to shake himself free. "Summer! Hey--oww! What are you doing, get off--SUMMER!"  
  
He felt himself being dragged away and tried desperately to get to his wife as they wheeled her out after him and rushed in the opposite direction.  
  
"I'm going with her!" he shrieked at the exiting doctors. "Get off! Let me go!" He was now out of breath and panting as he continued to struggle against the hold on him.  
  
"Easy, guy!" The man holding his right arm loosened his grip as he tried to calm Seth down. "There's nothing you can do for her right now, just let the doctors handle it."  
  
"I don't get it," Seth said, more to himself as he felt the tears brimming in his eyes. "What happened, what's going on?"  
  
"I'm not sure," the man said calmly. "She was unconcious and had a nasty head wound when the nurse came in to check on her just a few minutes ago. It's possible she may have tripped and hit her head on something solid. We're going to do our best to stabilize her."  
  
Seth stood staring at the direction of where his wife had gone, his eyes glazed and glassy.   
  
"Um," he started choking back a sob, "Where's my son?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"My son," he repeated. "We were supposed to take him home today, I would like to see him, please."  
  
The man stared blankly at Seth, a confused expression on his face.   
  
"Uhh, are you okay? I know this trama may come as a shock to you, but I believe you are mistaken. Mrs. Cohen was here getting over an allergic reaction to penecillin."  
  
Seth blinked back a tear and wrinkled his eyebrows.   
  
"What?"   
  
"I'm sorry sir," the man said apoligetically as he flipped through the clipboard in his hand. "But according to our records, Mrs. Cohen stayed overnight due to a severe allergic reaction.   
  
Seth shook his head violently at the insanity of this man. "No, No no no no! I have a SON, I was in the delivery room early this morning, I SAW my son being born!"   
  
"Again sir, you can check the records yourself, but according to this chart, Mrs. Cohen was not here for a pregnancy. We don't play with things like this, these records are never wrong. She did not have a child last night sir, she was here due to an aller--"  
  
"Nooooo....no! His name is Dominic! He was right in this room! I want to know where the hell my kid is!"  
  
"Please calm down sir, I'm sure that due to the immense emotional strain you're in right now--"  
  
"You're telling me I imagined the birth of my son!"  
  
The man paused a moment before giving him an apoligetic look.  
  
"It's impossible, sir. I'm sorry." 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
Seth buried his head in his hands as he glanced back up at the clock on the wall. His nerves were shot. Sitting in the same spot in the waiting room that he had been in only hours earlier, he vaguely recalled the feeling of nervousness and excitement that had consumed him before the birth of his son.   
  
This time, he was less nervous and excited than he was terrified.   
  
Summer had been in surgery for over an hour and there was still no word. It didn't help that nobody would tell him anything about how his wife ended up unconcious and covered in blood. Or how he seemed to be the only one to believe that his wife had given birth to his son. He had been hysterical, shoving past medical personel and rushing to the nursery, desperately searching the bassinets for his son.   
  
But he never saw him.  
  
They had threatened to have him put under arrest if he didn't calm down. They continued to tell him that Summer had been there due to an allergic reaction, that he was delerious from the trauma he'd been through, that he had no son. Seth had felt brainwashed. Even unsure of what the real truth was. But something in the back of his mind told him he wasn't crazy. He had a son. And he couldn't just accept what they told him. He had instead chosen to play along that he was convinved of the truth.   
  
He couldn't afford to get arrested. Not when Summer needed him the most.  
  
He glanced up at the clock for what had to be the hundredth time. Either his eyes were playing tricks on him, or the hand on the clock was actually moving counter clockwise.  
  
C'mon Summer, he prayed to himself. Please be okay.   
  
Just then a thin faced and gray haired doctor slowly made his way across the hall. Rising from his seat, Seth stared at him expectantly.   
  
"So?" he asked as the doctor reached him. "How is she? Is she okay? Please say she's okay."  
  
"She's okay," the doctor assure him, "but--" Seth let out an enormous breath of relief upon hearing those words, a thankful smiling spreading across his face.   
  
"Oh, thank you, God, thank you." he said quietly.  
  
"The good news is she's alive." he said forcefully. "She'd been lying on the floor there for at least a good hour before we discovered her injury. She suffered from a severe blow to the head. She lost a lot of blood, Mr. Cohen."  
  
"Oh god," Seth turned away from the doctor and rubbed his face with an exhausted hand. Peaking out from under his palm he asked, "How? How did...this happen?"  
  
"Well, we've come to believe that she may have gotten up without the help of her nurse, tripped and hit her head on the corners of any of the objects in that room. We DON'T think there was any foul play, here." he added upon seeing the questionable look in Seth's eyes.  
  
"But she's gonna be okay, right?" he asked. "I mean you said she's okay."  
  
"She is!" he insisted. "But...." The doctor grew quiet and Seth could tell he was looking for the right words to say.   
  
"Mr. Cohen...I'm sorry to have to tell you, but your wife is in a coma."  
  
Seth stared blankly at the man in front of him and felt his knees give way as he fell silently to his seat.   
  
"We're lucky we got to her in time," he continued. "Really, you should be thankful. Like I said...she lost a lot of blood."  
  
Seth continued to stare straight ahead, his face void of all emotion.  
  
A coma? he thought. But that's just...she's sleeping. I'll just go wake her up. I mean....she's asleep. I'll go get her up, and then we'll go and get Dominic and get the hell out of here.  
  
"Well she's gonna wake up, right?" he said quickly. "I mean....how long do people stay in comas? She's...she'll be fine, right?"  
  
The doctor looked grave and his hand felt heavy as it came to rest upon Seth's shoulder.  
  
"It's unpredictable with every patient. There is a possibility for her to awaken. But...you also have to realize that there's a good chance...she may never wake up."  
  
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Seth felt more emotionally drained than he had in a long while. He'd been filling out paperwork non stop, making sure that Summer would be properly taken care of in the hospital ward. He still hadn't been able to see her yet, even though every minute without being with her was killing him.   
  
After finally signing the last document in his hand, he slapped it down on the front desk with the last bit of strength he had left.   
  
"I'm going to go see my wife now."   
  
The receptionist nodded in his direction, though Seth was already well down the hall. He hurriedly made his way towards the steps and climbed them two at a time.   
  
It had to be either the best or worst day of his life. Maybe it was both.   
  
His son had been born today. Seth had never felt the kind of happiness that swelled inside of him when he had looked at that tiny person he'd held in his arms. And yet, Dominic was no where to be found. Summer was in a coma. And she might never wake up.  
  
I've lost my wife and my kid in the same day, he realized.   
  
Trying to wipe the thought from his mind, he finally reached the familiar door and stepped inside.   
  
His heart ached with pain as he looked at her, so still on the hospital bed. A large cast like material was wrapped around her head as she lay peacefully in a steady sleep.   
  
Slowly inching towards her, he sat on the edge of the bed by her side and placed a gentle hand over hers.   
  
"I'm so sorry," he whispered as he intertwined his fingers with her own. "I should've been here. I should never have left the hospital. If I had just stayed here with you and Dom, then maybe you wouldn't have..."  
  
Struggling to hold the tears back, he turned away from her face. He couldn't look at her like that. So helpless and lifeless. And no matter what he tried to tell himself, and no matter how he looked at the situation, he could only blame himself.   
  
His hands instinctively reached for his jacket pocket and felt the shape of the carton of cigerettes.   
  
I can't, he thought, restraining himself. The last thing Summer wanted me to do was quit smoking so....I should at least do that for her.  
  
His wet eyes scanned the room and stopped on her bedside table. There sat an ashtray and 2 used cigerettes smoked down to the filters.   
  
He stared at it curiously.  
  
Summer doesn't smoke, he thought. She hates smoking. And I never smoked in the delivery room.   
  
can i bum a cigerette?  
  
Suddenly Seth recalled the low, raspy voice he'd heard from beneath a dirty baseball cap and his body grew cold. Flashes of the man taking two cigerettes, sticking one in his mouth and the other behind his ear flooded through his mind.  
  
that's too bad...a little girl would be better helping you than a boy would...  
  
helping with what  
  
His gaze turned slowly to his wife's unconcious state, her heavy bandages wrapped securely around her head.   
  
dealing with the pain  
  
Seth couldn't feel his body anymore. He'd grown numb. The only sound pulsating through him was the beating of his own heart rapidly against his chest.   
  
He felt as if he was about to collapse. How could it be....the questions swarmed his mind. The biggest question of all endlessly repeated in his head.   
  
Why?  
  
A boy? That's too bad  
  
Dealing with the pain  
  
It's everywhere  
  
Dominic Cohen. It's got a certain ring to it I guess  
  
Images of empty bassinets and false hospital records, a crushed bouquet of lillies and a blue teddy bear flashed before his eyes. And then, reality struck.  
  
"Oh my god." 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
---7 years later---  
  
Seth closed his eyes as the cool fall air brushed against his face. He was standing outside the iron gates that surrounded Harbor Elementary, waiting patiently for the school bell to ring, just like he did every Monday. He preoccupied himself with the unraveling piece of fabric on the trim of his overcoat, glancing up at the school steps every now and then as he pulled at the seams. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he wrapped his fingers around the fuzzy object inside. Giving it a gentle squeeze, he smiled when the doors finally flew open and a herd of children rushed outside.  
  
Walking along the gates, he watched as the kids made their way to the school busses and out past the parking lot. He caught sight of a little boy with a baseball cap over a head of potruding curls run down past the gate and into the arms of what appeared to be his mother, a pretty woman with long brown hair and a nice smile.  
  
Seth pulled the stuffed blue bear, worn from age out of his pocket and stared as the woman took off the boys hat and ruffled his curls.  
  
"Mr. Cohen?"  
  
Turning abruptly, Seth quickly shoved the bear back into his pocket as he saw Nurse Murphy.  
  
"Hey, I was...just..."  
  
She walked slowly toward him, catching his gaze that lead to the woman and her son, now walking hand in hand down the sidewalk.  
  
"You have to stop coming here, Seth."  
  
Nodding slightly, he stepped towards the nurse.  
  
"I know."  
  
"Come on," she said, gently placing her hand on his shoulder. "She's done with her bath, you can visit her now."  
  
He followed the nurse back to the entrance of the hospital, back towards the familiar double glass doors that he'd been walking through day in and day out since that fateful night. A heavy sigh pushed past his lips and with a quick glance back at the school, he pushed through the doors once again, his soul a little heavier than before.  
  
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"...and I quit my job at the publishing company, it just...wasn't for me." Seth stood up and began pacing around the room. "Now I know you might not be happy about that, but I'm gonna find something new, I promise. Something better."  
  
No movement came from the body on the hospital bed, as Seth was quite used to. But still, he continued talking as if she had responded.  
  
"I know, but at least I quit smoking, huh? I did something right. I did what you wanted, the last thing you wanted, so you can still be proud of me for something."  
  
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he took her hand in his.  
  
"I miss you. You know that," he said stroking her hand. "Dominic misses you too. He's...getting so big. I've been...teaching him stuff. You know, like...playing sports with him. I was never much of an athlete," he said chuckling, "but we might actually have a Cohen who can throw a ball."  
  
A wet tear fell from the corner of his eye and onto her outstretched hand. He quickly wiped his eyes, and forced another smile.  
  
"You'd be proud of him. Don't worry about us, because we're fine. Dominic will visit you soon...I promise." He clasped his hands around her fingers and kissed her palm before getting up and, after one last glimpse at his wife, walked out of the hospital room.  
  
Summer still hadn't woken up from her coma. Seth visited her almost everyday and most of the people in the hospital knew who he was. Although Seth had been offered a high paying position in Chicago at the time of his son's birth, he had stayed in Newport to be near Summer. He took the 'for sale' sign off of their house and had gone from job to job ever since. Seth still hadn't fully recovered from the night of the accident, and just about everybody thought he was a little crazy.  
  
Everyone knew he still thought he had a son. Harbor Elementary was only a few blocks from the hospital and every Monday, just as school was letting out, Seth would watch the children, imagining that one of them might be Dominic. Nurse Murphy in particular had taken a liking to Seth and the two had become close friends. Though even she found it hard to believe that Seth had had a child who'd been abducted, she was the only one he spoke about it with, and some days she actually found herself believing the crazy story.  
  
Today was another one of those days.  
  
"I told her I've been teaching him sports," Seth said as he took a bite out of his sandwich. He had gone down to the Nurse's lounge to have lunch, something he often did. "She'll probably find that hard to believe, I mean, knowing me."  
  
Nurse Murphy gave a laugh as Seth took another bite from his sandwich, his face a little brighter than she'd seen in a long time.  
  
"Don't you think he'd be good at sports?" he asked whimsically. "I mean, it's gotta skip a generation right?"  
  
She grew quiet as she watched the dazed look on his face. "Seth, I don't know why you do this."  
  
Looking up from his food, he raised his eyebrows. "Do what?"  
  
"Talk to her like....like he's here."  
  
He stared back at her for a moment before looking to his feet. She looked regretful for saying it, but still looked to him for an explanation.  
  
"Look," he said carefully, "I just don't want her knowing...that he's not with me. That....he's gone."  
  
"But Seth, she doesn't kn--"  
  
"I know!" he snapped. His face softened and he shook his head slightly. "Listen, Summer was the best thing that ever happened to me. I was never happier than when I was with her...and then Dominic came into our lives. My wife and my son were....ARE the most important things in my life."  
  
She looked at him skeptically.  
  
"I know you don't believe it, you don't think I have a son, but the thing is, I do. And I know Summer can hear me. I know it. I just don't want to upset her that he's not here..."  
  
"Okay Seth," she said softly. "Um...I have to go. Will you be all right here?"  
  
Nodding, Seth finished off his sandwich and watched her go, an empty feeling in the pit of his stomach.  
  
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"It's been long enough."  
  
"It's not time yet."  
  
"Look, I did what you wanted me to do. She's out of the picture and we got the kid, I want the rest of my money."  
  
"In due time, my friend."  
  
His hand flicked the embers from the cigerette and a puff of smoke escaped from his lips.  
  
"I've BEEN waiting! For 7 years I've been waiting, you said that the time would be worth it!"  
  
The other man held his hand up to silence him, and he watched carefully as he took a briefcase from beneath his desk and held it before him.  
  
"Patience...is key." Flipping open the brief case, the man's mouth fell open at the sight of it's contents. "This...is what you will get. If you are patient."  
  
"S--sure," the man stuttered, "That's definitely, that's--patience, okay."  
  
"He's going to pay for what he did." he said more to himself than to the other man. "And I want him to suffer." The smoke billowed out of his mouth as he let out a throaty cackle. "There is no worse pain than happiness. If you get the best of life...you'll always know what you're missing when it's taken away."  
  
His voice took an ominous tone and he smiled sinisterly at the man before him.  
  
"His suffering has only just begun..." 


End file.
